“Black Sails” recap (3.01): Mo’ money, mo’ problems

Previously on Black Sails, Eleanor and Max fell in love but broke apart and hardly ever spoke again, everyone was on the hunt for the Urca gold, including the new trio that consists of Max and Anne (who are partners in the biblical sense) and Jack (who is Anne’s partner in a slightly more complicated sense). Eleanor betrayed Vane to rescue a young girl who Flint then took back to her father; then HE killed Miranda instead of working out some kind of peace between England, Nassau, and the pirates. Vane helped Flint escape his execution, John Silver found out that someone sold the location of the gold to Jack, Anne and Max’s new crew, and Hornigold and Dufresne kidnapped Eleanor (!!).

We open on a ship in Bath, Carolina. Three men board a ship, its quartermaster looking nervous but not doing much to stop them. They barge into the captain’s chambers and growl at a man they call Drummond. They accuse him of abandoning his wife, Mary, who also happens to be their sister. Drummond doesn’t turn around while he tells the men about the lies he was told to get them here; like, for one, his name is Teach, not Drummond. He turns around to display his large black beard before killing them all.

Somewhere else in this vast ocean, a village is invaded and destroyed by a bunch of men with their faces covered. One man moves swiftly past bodies that have been hanged in the square and into the room of an older couple. He pulls off his mask and it’s Captain Flint, now with a shaved head. He’s attacking anyone who punishes pirates, something this Magistrate knew but risked anyway in hopes of having a discussion with Flint. But that’s not Flint’s way, so he shoots the man and his wife in the face. The body of the wife reminds Flint of why he’s doing this; the late Miranda Barlow.

RIP

When Flint gets back to the ship, John Silver tells him it was a good haul, but as soon as he’s out of earshot, Silver and Billy Bones fight about whether he’s completely lost his mind or not. Though it’s arguable that ship sailed two seasons ago.

On another boat, Vane is approaching a ship he was meant to pillage when he realizes two things that upset him. 1) The ship is dumping its cargo overboard to avoid Vane taking it. 2) That cargo is human people. Furious he was sent after a slaver, after everything he’s been through, he boards the ship and sends the captain overboard with an anchor tied around his ankles.

Back on Nassau, the Trial of Eleanor Guthrie is being held, but a parody of one. The drunks laugh as the woman who once stood tall and in charge is made into a mockery. Mr. Scott is watching in disgust, and Max apologizes to him for it being in poor taste.

This takes “crazy ex-girlfriend” to a whole new level, Max.

She probably doesn’t like it either, to be honest, but she needed news of the trial, and the men needed a distraction. Max says Eleanor might receive mercy if she begs, and I wonder if she means more than just in court. Mr. Scott tells Max the fort is still unprotected, despite Jack saying he was going to take care of it. Anne, who had sidled up next to Max during their conversation, chimes in now and says Jack just needs more time. After Mr. Scott leaves, Max loses a bit of her composure and asks what the hell is going on with Mustachio. Anne tells Max she’ll find out.

“Even though I don’t want to leave your side.”

But when Anne finds Jack, he doesn’t look much like he’s working on anything. He’s using the bathroom while reading the paper and having a woman play music for him. The life of the wealthy, I guess. Anne kicks the musician out and confronts Jack about the fort. He tells her to lay off, but Anne insists she needs to know. Jack asks if her husband sent her, which is apparently what he calls Max, mostly because it bothers Anne.

Anne sticks up for Max and says their gold is in that fort and just wants to know the plan. As if on cue, Vane storms into the brothel then, furious, and Jack says his plan is about to unfurl.

He’s SO PISSED at Jack for not telling him the ship he was going after was a slaver, but Jack goes into a panic-rant about all the things he’s done to try to get men to work on the fort, to no avail. Slaves were the only way, and if he told Vane what kind of ship it was, he never would have gone, and he doesn’t want to let Vane down. Refuses to, in fact. Vane looks surprisingly compassionate.